


A Different Kind of Haunted House

by TheVoidInMyHead



Category: Vampire: The Masquerade, World of Darkness (Games)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 23:44:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18537892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheVoidInMyHead/pseuds/TheVoidInMyHead
Summary: A Ventrue businessman is working with a bunch of Nosferatu to open up a haunted house. Declared a lunatic and a potential breacher of the Masquerade by his fellow Ventrues, he still goes through with his idea. What could possibly go wrong?





	A Different Kind of Haunted House

A young woman with long, black, layered hair is sitting on a dumpster in an extremely dark alley. The light from the main street doesn’t seem to quite reach back there. She looks completely out of place, this well dressed. She’s wearing a long red coat and pants that look like they cost a hundred dollars. Her shoes look even more expensive. Her amber eyes flick to her watch again, checking the time. She’s clearly waiting for someone.

She impatiently taps her fingers on her leg and sighs. “I hate it wh-”

Out of nowhere an invisible force slams her down onto the cold metal surface, a hand tightens around her throat like a vise and now what has her pinned down is visible, hanging over her like a demon. The “man” smiles a wide, cold smile, exposing two rows of long, sharp fangs. His skin is a corpse like gray in color, flaking in some spots, in others it’s red and irritated. His lips are dry and cracked. His short, brown, thin hair is as patchy as his skin. Bald spots dot his head in a random pattern. His whole attire is black.

Despite the grotesque man holding her down, the woman doesn’t scream, instead she locks eyes with him. He looks like he’s blind, but it’s quite clear that he’s not. She’s sure he can see. She knows. No blind person would be able to pin her down with such pinpoint accuracy. His irises are white with a black ring separating it from the actual whites of his eyes. His pupils are glazed over to a dull gray in color. They’re creepy. One of them is looking slightly off to the side, as if he is seeing something she can’t, as if there’s another hidden threat just a breath away.

The shock from the impact lasts for only a second. The woman bares her own teeth, revealing fangs and something about her changes. She looks threatening on an inhuman level. She is radiating a sense of horrible danger that can almost be felt in the air around her.

Her attacker hisses and immediately lets go, getting off her and taking a few steps back.

She brushes herself off and stands, not taking her gaze off him. She smirks, clearly pleased with the result. “Well, that was quite the greeting. Good evening, Vincent. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” Instantly, her threatening aura vanishes again. Her voice is clear and even. She’s not shaken at all by what just happened.

Vincent lets out a short laugh. “My apologies. Nobody told me there would be an escort to pick me up. I was expecting Nathan to be here.” He raises an eyebrow and takes in her appearance again. “So who are you? A colleague?”

“My name is Merinda,” she introduces herself. “I’m Nathan’s childe. He couldn’t make it in time. I was tasked with bringing you to him.”

The Nosferatu nods. “Ah, of course. Nathan speaks of you quite frequently. I should have recognized you from his description. Alright, let’s go then.”

“I was told you could cloak yourself to look inconspicuous. We can talk on the way if you have any questions.”

Before Merinda’s eyes Vincent’s appearance changes. It only takes a second.

“Took me a while to do this. This is how I used to look before I got the freak show makeover.” He grins, looking back at her with hazel eyes, his skin smooth and his hair the same brown shade, but full, without the bald spots.

“Looks good to me. Please come along.” Merinda leaves the alley and makes sure he’s following her.

They make their way down the main street, passing display windows that are all lit up. Some of the stores are still open. It’s not all that late yet.

“Out of curiosity, what do you think of Nathan’s idea? Be honest. He’s already been called a lunatic, a masquerade breacher and all kinds of other awful things over it at the office, so I’m sure everything you can say pales in comparison.” Merinda says.

“It’s quite unusual, but I think that’s why it will be a success. We’ll see who has the last laugh when this takes off.” He pauses for a moment and casually asks, “What else did they say about him at the office? Just asking, because I need to know if I need to rip some heads off over there later.”

“They said he was embraced into the wrong clan. The precise wording by one of our fellow associates was: The Kooks should have taken him and then they should have stuck him in a madhouse.” She grimaces. “Nathan’s not mad. And if he was, he’d be a mad genius. How long have you known him?”

“For 40 years, maybe even 50. And I agree with you. Nathan’s ideas might seem strange to them, but he knows what he’s doing. His mindset is not stuck in the 15th century like that of so many of his fellow clanmates.”

“How are the other Nos taking the proposal?”

Vincent smiles. “Very well. If this works, we’ll be hiding a lot less in the foreseeable future.”

“I heard it said that you guys hide underground. Nathan mentioned something called the Warrens, but he didn’t elaborate. He told me he was not allowed to speak of it and that if I ever met one of you guys, I could try asking, but shouldn’t expect an answer.” Merinda rounds a corner and the noise from the main street starts to become muffled. The street they’re on now is completely devoid of people. In the distance a skyscraper is looming over the city. That’s where they’re headed.

Vincent doesn’t speak again for a few moments, he looks around as to make sure they’re not seen or heard. He slows his pace and Merinda turns to him, a bit puzzled.

He’s standing in the shadows of a broken, flickering street lamp, the light behind him harshly painting his silhouette into the night. He’s not cloaked anymore. She can make out his white eyes and they almost seemed to be glowing. It’s only now that she notices how tall he actually is. He’s at least three heads taller than her.

“The more important question is, can you keep a secret?” his voice has dropped. It holds a warning, a threat almost. And when she doesn’t immediately answer, he lowers into a crouch and the sound that escapes his throat is a low guttural growl. “Can you?”

Every one of the dead cells in her body is telling her to flee right now, but she knows better than to do that. She places a hand over her heart. “All your secrets are safe with me.”

He moves closer, still crouched as if ready to pounce on her. “Are you quite certain about that?” His voice drops even more. He sounds menacing.

Merinda knows he’s trying to scare her on purpose to make her drop the subject. She also knows that he probably won’t even hurt her, but still this is affecting her. Right now, she’s afraid of him, her body frozen in place against her will and her better judgement. “I am certain.” She’s thankful that her voice isn’t shaking.

Vincent keeps advancing on her and stops only when he has leaned down to her eye level and placed both of his claws on her shoulders. “I will hold you to that,” he breathes and the sound sends a shiver down her spine. “And if you ever break your word, I will find you, and I will make you regret every single sentence you repeated.” One of his hands grasps her chin, holding her head in place. “Understood?”

She swallows hard, not daring to nod with his sharp nails on her skin. “Of course.” She wishes she could see her own face right now. “I never break my word once I’ve given it. Cross my heart.”

As soon as she blinks, his hazel eyes stare back at her again for a moment longer. “You’re a lot like Nathan…” His hand on her chin opens, his expression changes and his gaze warms up again. “Though Nathan tried to order me to stop and when that didn’t work he punched me when I threatened him like this.” He straightens. “Your face didn’t give you away. Your voice didn’t either. If I didn’t know better, I would say you weren’t even scared. But I saw your eyes search for an escape for a second. For just a second, you wanted to run, before your body froze up and locked you in place.”

Merinda cocks her head to the side and gives him a curious look. “You’re quite observant. And you’re right. I’m sorry, but how old are you?”

The amusement at the question is apparent in his voice. “Far older than you, older than Nathan even.” He gestures for her to keep leading the way. “Why didn’t my surprise attack bother you?”

She explains, “Because that was a trained reactionary response to being jumped. My body acted faster than my brain. I didn’t have time to think. Or to get scared enough to freeze.”

“Ah. Well, now let me tell you about what you so courageously endured my threats for.”

And he starts talking at length, Merinda listening and memorizing every detail, then locking it away in her heart.

It takes them about 20 more minutes to arrive at the building. They take the elevator up to the 15th floor.

“The view from up there is amazing!” Merinda says excitedly. “It’s one of my favorite things.”

“I’m quite fond of heights and rooftops myself,” Vincent lets her know. “Being up there…” He searches for words to describe what he feels.

“It makes you feel free,” she offers. “Like nothing can touch you.”

“It makes me forget my problems for a while. It’s nice to be up there without a care in the world.”

The elevator bell dings and the doors open to the floor with the office.

“Welcome, to Nathan’s domain,” Merinda smiles.


End file.
